Sandu Chinese, a modular approach, biographic information module unit 2, Comprehension Tape 1.
This unit is set in the Republic of China, or ROC.
On this tape, you'll learn to understand more questions and answers about where you're staying,
less questions and answers about where you work.
Peter Cook Kebida is an American student who's just arrived in Taipei and is staying at the Ambassador Hotel.
In Taiwan, most hotel names use the term 大飯店, literally Great Hotel.
Listen to Great Hotel.
大飯店,大飯店,大飯店.
Now listen to Ambassador Hotel.
國賓大飯店,國賓大飯店,國賓大飯店.
Literally, the word 國賓 means guest of the country.
Listen for Ambassador Hotel,國賓大飯店 in this exchange.
Where are you staying?
你住在哪裡?
I'm staying at the Ambassador Hotel.
我住在國賓大飯店,我住在國賓大飯店.
In non-peaking dialects of standard Chinese, the usual word for where is not 哪, but 哪裏.
Listen,哪裏?
Notice that the tone pattern is rising neutral.
This is because the syllable 裏 is a basic low tone syllable.
And as you will remember, the first of two low tone syllables changes to a rising tone.
Here's the exchange again.
你住在哪裏?
我住在國賓大飯店.
Again,你住在哪裏?
我住在國賓大飯店.
Check your comprehension.
你住在哪裏?
Where are you staying?
我住在國賓大飯店.
I'm staying at the Ambassador Hotel.
The words for here and there, 製 and 哪, also have forms ending in 裏 in the other dialects of standard Chinese.
In the other dialects of standard Chinese.
Here they are.
这里,哪裏?
In the following exchange, Peter Koch is standing in the lobby of one hotel with another hotel visible through the window.
Listen for the new forms.
Where are you staying?
你住在哪裏?
I'm staying here.
我住在這裏.
How about him?
他呢?
He's staying there.
他住在那裏?
Here's the exchange live.
你住在哪裏?
我住在這裏.
他呢?
他住在那裏.
Again,你住在哪裏?
我住在這裏.
他呢?
他住在那裏.
After staying at the hotel for a few days, Peter Koch moves into a friend's house.
Here's the word for house or home.
家,家,家.
Here's the word for friend.
朋友,朋友,朋友.
And here's the expression, a friend's house.
朋友家,朋友家.
Notice that word for word,朋友家 is simply friend house with no possessive marker.
You've already had an example of the unmarked possessive construction in 你爱人, your spouse.
Listen for a friend's house in this exchange.
Where are you staying?
你住在哪裏?
I'm staying at a friend's house.
我住在朋友家.
Here it is live.
你住在哪裏?
我住在朋友家.
Again,你住在哪裏?
我住在朋友家.
Check your comprehension.
你住在哪裏?
Where are you staying?
我住在朋友家.
I'm staying at a friend's house.
The conversation might continue as follows.
Where is your friend's house?
你朋友家在哪裏?
His house is on Dolly Street.
他家在大理街.
Here are some more unmarked possessive relationships.
What does this mean?
我家.
It means my house.
What does this mean?
你朋友家.
It means your friend's house.
What would this mean?
李先生家.
It would mean Mr. Lee's house.
Here's the word for street.
街.
And here's Dolly Street.
大理街.
Here's the exchange live.
你朋友家在哪裏?
Again.
你朋友家在哪裏?
他家在大理街.
Check your comprehension.
你朋友家在哪裏?
Where is your friend's house?
他家在大理街.
His house is on Dolly Street.
The next question might concern the address.
Here's the word for address.
他家在大理街.
The expression, his address,
involves another possessive relationship.
This one, however, has to be marked.
In the phrase,他家, his, or her home,
where the relationship is felt to be inherently very close,
no marker is needed.
When the possessive relationship is not felt to be so close,
the marker Do is added to the possessive phrase.
Listen to Mr. Lee's address.
李先生的地址.
Here's how you would say number 42 in giving a house number.
四十二号.
Now listen to this exchange,
which continues the conversation.
What's your friend's address?
你朋友的地址是.
His address is number 42 Dolly Street.
他的地址是大理街四十二号.
Notice that when you give an address in Chinese,
you put the general before the specific.
First street,and then number.
In English,it's the other way around.
Now listen to the exchange again,live.
你朋友的地址是.
他的地址是大理街四十二号.
The question in this exchange is literally,
your friend's address is
where you would expect the word what,
什么,there is simply a trailing off.
Here's the live exchange again.
你朋友的地址是.
他的地址是大理街四十二号.
Check your comprehension.
你朋友的地址是.
What's your friend's address?
他的地址是大理街四十二号.
His address is number 42 Dolly Street.
Let's review what we've covered so far.
Listen to the following live conversation.
你住在哪个饭店?
我住在国宾大饭店,你呢?
我住在朋友家.
你朋友贵姓?
他姓周.
周先生的地址是.
他的地址是大理街四十二号.
Again.
你住在哪个饭店?
我住在国宾大饭店,你呢?
我住在朋友家.
你朋友贵姓?
他姓周.
周先生的地址是.
他的地址是大理街四十二号.
See if you understood what we've said.
你住在哪个饭店?
Which hotel are you staying at?
我住在国宾大饭店.
I'm staying at the ambassador hotel.
你呢?
And you?
我住在朋友家.
I'm staying at a friend's house.
你朋友贵姓?
What's your friend's surname?
他姓周.
His surname is Joe.
周先生的地址是.
What's Mr. Joe's address?
他的地址是大理街四十二号.
His address is number 42 Dali Street.
Major Weiss, a foreign area specialist, newly assigned to the military attaché's office in Taipei,
is attending a party given by his Chinese counterpart.
Here's the word for major.
少校.
Listen to the officer's wife greet major Weiss as he comes in.
Oh, you must be major Weiss.
你是魏少校吧?
Yes.
是的.
The word 是的 is an expanded form of the short answer 是的.
The marker 吧 at the end of the first sentence softens it and makes it less absolute.
You make a statement without the marker 吧 when you know for sure that something is so.
You make a statement with 吧 when you're almost sure it's so.
The sentence 你是魏少校吧 could also be translated.
If my information is right, you must be major Weiss.
A statement with the marker 吧 leaves an opening for the listener to correct you if your information is wrong.
Here's the exchange again, live.
你是魏少校吧?
是的.
Again, 你是魏少校吧?
是的.
Check your comprehension.
你是魏少校吧?
Oh, you must be major Weiss.
是的.
Yes.
Another evening, major Weiss invites a few people to join him at his hotel for drinks.
One of them has never been to the ambassador hotel before.
Listen to the live exchange as he checks with someone on the street to see if the building he's approaching is the right one.
请问,那是国宾大饭店吗?
是的,那是国宾大饭店.
Notice the word for that.
Nay, unlike the bound word for which,
Nay, can be used without a noun or counter after it.
Here's the exchange again.
请问,那是国宾大饭店吗?
是的,那是国宾大饭店.
Check your comprehension.
请问,那是国宾大饭店吗?
May I ask, is that the ambassador hotel?
是的,那是国宾大饭店.
Yes, that's the ambassador hotel.
Here's the verb for to work.
工作,工作,工作.
Listen forward to work,工作,
as Major Weiss is asked about a friend of his.
Where does your friend work now?
你朋友现在在哪里工作?
He works in Tainan.
他在台南工作。
As you noticed, the verb work,工作,
comes at the end of each sentence.
Let's compare the answer telling where the friend works
to an answer just telling where he is.
He works in Tainan.
他在台南工作。
He's in Tainan.
他在台南。
In the sentence,他在台南,
the verb在 is the main verb
and is given the familiar translation
is in.
He is in Tainan.
In the sentence,他在台南工作,
however, the main verb is工作,
works, and the verb在 before it
is translated simply by the preposition in.
He works in Tainan.
In a sentence like this,
we say that在 is a prepositional verb,
supplementing the information in the main verb.
Chinese generally uses prepositional verbs
where English uses prepositions.
Listen once more to the exchange
about where the friend works, live.
你朋友现在在哪里工作?
他在台南工作。
Again,你朋友现在在哪里工作?
他在台南工作。
Check your comprehension.
你朋友现在在哪里工作?
Where does your friend work now?
他在台南工作。
He works in Tainan.
Here is the name for military attaché's office.
五官处。
Listen as the conversation continues, live.
你在哪里工作?
我在五官处工作。
Again,你在哪里工作?
我在五官处工作。
Check your comprehension.
你在哪里工作?
Where do you work?
我在五官处工作。
I work at the military attaché's office.
Now listen to another live conversation.
你朋友在台北工作吗?
他不在台北工作,他在台中工作。
Notice that in Chinese you can put the negative before the prepositional verb phrase 在台北,
while in English the negative can only go with the main verb to work.
Here is the exchange again.
你朋友在台北工作吗?
他不在台北工作,他在台中工作。
Check your comprehension.
你朋友在台北工作吗?
Does your friend work in Taipei?
他不在台北工作。
He doesn't work in Taipei.
他在台中工作。
He works in Taichung.
Let's review what you've covered on this tape.
A Chinese army officer and his wife are talking about a certain major word.
Listen.
那位是谁?
他是五少校,在美国五官处工作。
他是讲少校的朋友吧?
是的。
五少校现在住在哪里?
他现在住在朋友家。
那个朋友是美国人吗?
不是,他是中国人。
是张诗英,张先生。
他也在五官处工作。
Again,那位是谁?
他是五少校,在美国五官处工作。
他是讲少校的朋友吧?
是的。
五少校现在住在哪里?
他现在住在朋友家。
那个朋友是美国人吗?
不是,他是中国人。
是张诗英,张先生。
他也在五官处工作。
See if you understood what was said.
那位是谁?
Who's that?
他是五少校,在美国五官处工作。
He's Major Wood.
He works at the U.S. Military Attaché's office.
他是讲少校的朋友吧?
Oh, he must be Major Jiang's friend.
是的。
Yes.
五少校现在住在哪里?
Where's Major Wood staying now?
他现在住在朋友家。
He's staying at a friend's house now.
那个朋友是美国人吗?
Is that friend an American?
不是,他是中国人。
No, he's Chinese.
是张诗英,张先生。
It's Zhang Shiyin, Mr. Zhang.
他也在五官处工作。
He works at the Attaché's office too.
For a final review, see if you can translate these random exchanges from the target list.
Number one,你在哪里工作?
Where do you work?
我在五官处工作。
I work at the Military Attaché's office.
Number two,你朋友的地址是?
What's your friend's address?
他的地址是大理街42号。
His address is number 42 Dali Street.
那是国宾大饭店吧?
That must be the Ambassador Hotel.
是的,那是国宾大饭店。
Yes, that's the Ambassador Hotel.
你住在那里吗?
Are you staying there?
不,我住在这里。
No, I'm staying here.
Number four,你朋友家在哪里?
Where's your friend's house?
他家在大理街。
His house is on Dali Street.
Number five,你朋友在台北工作吗?
Does your friend work in Taipei?
他不在台北工作。
He doesn't work in Taipei.
他在台中工作。
He works in台中。
If you're satisfied with your understanding of these sentences,
go on to the P1 tape.
If you're still having difficulties,
listen to this tape again or check your reference notes.
This is the end of the tape.
End of biographic information module unit two,
copyhenshin tape one.